IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/worbus/v48y2013i2p209-221.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Expatriate return on investment in the Asia Pacific: An empirical study of individual ROI versus corporate ROI

Author

Listed:
  • McNulty, Yvonne
  • De Cieri, Helen
  • Hutchings, Kate

Abstract

The return on investment (ROI) from international assignments is a crucial aspect of expatriate management. The literature has taken a mostly organizational perspective of this important phenomenon, with little attention to the ‘individual ROI’ expatriates gain when undertaking an assignment. Especially lacking is research on expatriate ROI in the Asia Pacific region. Based on interviews with 31 long-term expatriates in 10 Asian countries, we use psychological contract theory to examine (1) how ‘individual ROI’ acts as a key driver of ‘corporate ROI’ and (2) the challenges and opportunities that expatriation in the Asia Pacific presents to individuals and organizations.

Suggested Citation

  • McNulty, Yvonne & De Cieri, Helen & Hutchings, Kate, 2013. "Expatriate return on investment in the Asia Pacific: An empirical study of individual ROI versus corporate ROI," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 209-221.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:worbus:v:48:y:2013:i:2:p:209-221
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jwb.2012.07.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090951612000582
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jwb.2012.07.005?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mila B Lazarova & Jean-Luc Cerdin, 2007. "Revisiting repatriation concerns: organizational support versus career and contextual influences," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 38(3), pages 404-429, May.
    2. Yvonne M. Mcnulty & Phyllis Tharenou, 2004. "Expatriate Return on Investment : A Definition and Antecedents," International Studies of Management & Organization, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(3), pages 68-95, January.
    3. Lazarova, Mila & Caligiuri, Paula, 2001. "Retaining repatriates: the role of organizational support practices," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 389-401, January.
    4. Lazarova, Mila & Tarique, Ibraiz, 2005. "Knowledge transfer upon repatriation," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 361-373, November.
    5. Myers, Barbara & Pringle, Judith K., 2005. "Self-initiated foreign experience as accelerated development: Influences of gender," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 421-431, November.
    6. Dickmann, Michael & Harris, Hilary, 2005. "Developing career capital for global careers: The role of international assignments," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 399-408, November.
    7. Collings, David G. & Scullion, Hugh & Morley, Michael J., 2007. "Changing patterns of global staffing in the multinational enterprise: Challenges to the conventional expatriate assignment and emerging alternatives," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 198-213, June.
    8. Yvonne McNulty & Helen Cieri, 2011. "Global Mobility in the 21st Century," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 51(6), pages 897-919, December.
    9. Cappellen, Tineke & Janssens, Maddy, 2005. "Career paths of global managers: Towards future research," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 348-360, November.
    10. Stahl, Günter K. & Miller, Edwin L. & Tung, Rosalie L., 2002. "Toward the boundaryless career: a closer look at the expatriate career concept and the perceived implications of an international assignment," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 216-227, October.
    11. Vance, Charles M., 2005. "The personal quest for building global competence: A taxonomy of self-initiating career path strategies for gaining business experience abroad," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 374-385, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Thomas Köllen & Andri Koch & Andreas Hack, 2020. "Nationalism at Work: Introducing the “Nationality-Based Organizational Climate Inventory” and Assessing Its Impact on the Turnover Intention of Foreign Employees," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 97-122, February.
    2. Anika Breitenmoser & Benjamin Bader, 2016. "Repatriation outcomes affecting corporate ROI: a critical review and future agenda," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 66(3), pages 195-234, June.
    3. Caligiuri, Paula & Bonache, Jaime, 2016. "Evolving and enduring challenges in global mobility," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 127-141.
    4. Christian Linder, 2016. "Embeddedness and the International Workforce: Stylized Facts and Future Research Directions," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 17(3), pages 541-565, June.
    5. Renshaw, Phil St John & Dickmann, Michael & Parry, Emma, 2022. "The value of international assignments through the lens of real-options-reasoning," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 423-434.
    6. Moreira, Márcia Zabdiele & Ogasavara, Mário Henrique, 2018. "Formal and informal institutions and the expatriation assignment: The case of Japanese subsidiaries in Latin America," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 18-26.
    7. McWha-Hermann, Ishbel & Jandric, Jakov & Cook-Lundgren, Emily & Carr, Stuart C., 2022. "Toward fairer global reward: Lessons from international non-governmental organizations," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(1).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Caligiuri, Paula & Bonache, Jaime, 2016. "Evolving and enduring challenges in global mobility," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 127-141.
    2. Yvonne McNulty & Helen Cieri, 2011. "Global Mobility in the 21st Century," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 51(6), pages 897-919, December.
    3. Heidi Wechtler & Alexei Koveshnikov & Cécile Dejoux, 2017. "Career Anchors and Cross-Cultural Adjustment Among Expatriates in a Non-Profit Organization," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 277-305, April.
    4. Sarabi, Almasa & Froese, Fabian J. & Hamori, Monika, 2017. "Is inpatriate assignment experience a ticket to the top of a foreign subsidiary? The moderating effect of subsidiary context," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(5), pages 680-690.
    5. Anika Breitenmoser & Benjamin Bader, 2016. "Repatriation outcomes affecting corporate ROI: a critical review and future agenda," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 66(3), pages 195-234, June.
    6. Point, Sébastien & Dickmann, Michael, 2012. "Branding international careers: An analysis of multinational corporations’ official wording," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 18-31.
    7. Felker, Julie & Gianecchini, Martina, 2015. "Influence of pre-graduation international experiences on early career internationalization: The mediation effect of career capital," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 60-70.
    8. Elenkov, Detelin S. & Manev, Ivan M., 2009. "Senior expatriate leadership's effects on innovation and the role of cultural intelligence," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 357-369, October.
    9. Vesa Peltokorpi & Fabian Jintae Froese & B. Sebastian Reiche & Sebastian Klar, 2022. "Reverse Knowledge Flows: How and When Do Preparation and Reintegration Facilitate Repatriate Knowledge Transfer?," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(7), pages 1869-1893, November.
    10. Renshaw, Phil St John & Dickmann, Michael & Parry, Emma, 2022. "The value of international assignments through the lens of real-options-reasoning," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 423-434.
    11. Harvey, Michael & Reiche, B. Sebastian & Moeller, Miriam, 2011. "Developing effective global relationships through staffing with inpatriate managers: The role of interpersonal trust," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 150-161, June.
    12. Guttormsen, David S.A., 2018. "Does the ‘non-traditional expatriate’ exist? A critical exploration of new expatriation categories," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 233-244.
    13. Collings, David G., 2014. "Integrating global mobility and global talent management: Exploring the challenges and strategic opportunities," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 253-261.
    14. Ren, Hong & Bolino, Mark C. & Shaffer, Margaret A. & Kraimer, Maria L., 2013. "The influence of job demands and resources on repatriate career satisfaction: A relative deprivation perspective," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 149-159.
    15. Meuer, Johannes & Tröster, Christian & Angstmann, Michèle & Backes-Gellner, Uschi & Pull, Kerstin, 2019. "Embeddedness and the repatriation intention of assigned and self-initiated expatriates," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 784-793.
    16. repec:rai:zfpers:doi_10.1688/1862-0000_zfp_2013_02_remhof is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Schmid, Stefan & Wurster, Dennis J., 2017. "International work experience: Is it really accelerating the way to the management board of MNCs?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 991-1008.
    18. Arp, Frithjof, 2013. "Typologies: What types of foreign executives are appointed by local organisations and what types of organisations appoint them?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 27(3), pages 167-194.
    19. Christian Linder, 2016. "Embeddedness and the International Workforce: Stylized Facts and Future Research Directions," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 17(3), pages 541-565, June.
    20. Collings, David G. & Scullion, Hugh & Morley, Michael J., 2007. "Changing patterns of global staffing in the multinational enterprise: Challenges to the conventional expatriate assignment and emerging alternatives," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 198-213, June.
    21. Richter, Nicole Franziska & Hauff, Sven, 2022. "Necessary conditions in international business research–Advancing the field with a new perspective on causality and data analysis," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 57(5).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:worbus:v:48:y:2013:i:2:p:209-221. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/620401/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.